Decanting tube for fluid containers



April 1963 E. CALOYANNIDI 3,085,722

DECANTING TUBE FOR FLUID CONTAINERS Filed May 12, 1958 VENTOR.

62pm amm /Wm ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,085,722 DECANTING TUBE FOR FLUID CONTAINERS Elpis Caloyannitli, Athens, Greece, assignor of onefourth to Thomas E. OBrien, Richmond Hill, N.Y., and one-fourth to James Procopis, Athens, Greece Filed May 12, 1958, Ser. No. 734,541 Claims priority, application Greece May 15, 1957 3 Claims. (Cl. 222-525) This invention relates to spouts and, more particularly, to spouts for attaching to an opening in a fluid container.

It is recognized that decanting a fluid from a container is likely to result in some of the fluid being spilled, regardless of the care which is exercised. There have been attempts in the past to provide various devices for attaching to the opening in a fluid container to assist a decanting operation, but such devices heretofore known have not provided a solution to the problem which combines both practical operating characteristics and economy in production.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a spout of new and improved construction for attaching in operating relation with a fluid container.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a spout for attaching with an opening in a fluid container, which spout is adaptable to disappear within the container when not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spout of resilient material such that it may be attached to existing fluid containers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of new and improved construction for cooperating with a fluid container in the decanting of a fluid.

A further object of the invention is to provide a decanting means of new and improved construction for hooking to a closure of a fluid container so that it is withdrawn a predetermined amount from within the container as the closure is removed.

Generally, a device according to the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a substantially cylindrical tubing of resilient material. A plurality of threads are formed on the tubing for engagement with threads on the inside of a container opening and, at the outer end of the tubing, a means is provided for preventing the device from passing beyond reach within the container when not in use.

For a more complete understanding of these and other objects of the present invention, reference may be had to the description which follows and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2. is a perspective view of a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modification of the device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a modification of the device shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a further modification of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a further modification of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a modification of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a still further modification of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an inverted closure for a fluid container.

Referring now to a preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the spout 10 is formed of a substantially cylindrical tube made of a suitable resilient material such as plastic. 'It has been found that an optimum length of the spout is approximately 8 centimeters, the diameter being suitable to match an opening with which the spout is to cooperate. Adjacent the lower end of the spout 10, a plurality of threads 11 are formed integrally with the plastic con- 3,685,722 Patented Apr. 16, 1963 tainer and may be formed during the initial molding operation. A flange 12 is formed about the periphery of the end of the spout 10 furthermost from the threads 11 and is of a suitable dimension to prevent the spout 10 from passing beyond reach within the container when not in use. -It has been found that a suitable dimension for the width of this flange 12 is 2 millimeters, and a suitable thickness should not be more than 2 millimeters.

A spout 10 formed as described above is inserted within the opening of a fluid container merely by deforming the tube and permitting it to spring back to its original shape after it is in place. The spout 10 will fall by gravity within the opening of the fluid container until the flange 12 rests against the rim of the container opening, permitting a closure cap to be threaded in place over the flange 12 to seal the container. In use, the closure cap is removed, the spout It} is pulled outwardly by grasping the flange 12 and then turned to engage the threads 11 with the threads formed on the inner surface of the container opening. In this position fluid may be decanted from the container through the spout 10 with little or no spilling.

To withdraw the spout 10 automatically upon the removal of the closure cap, four hooks b are formed in pairs opposite each other on the flange 12 as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. With this arrangement, the closure would be provided with hooks b, one such hook being visible in the inverted closure cap shown in FIG. 9. The hooks b on the closure cap engage the hooks b' on the flange 12 so that by unscrewing and pulling out on the. closure cap, the spout 10 is pulled out also. By turning the closure cap in the same direction as when unscrewing it, the threads 11 on the spout 10 engage the threads on the inner surface of the container opening. After having thus fixed the spout 10, a small turn backwards is suflicient to disengage the hooks b in the closure cap from the hooks b on the flange 12. With this arrangement, it is preferred that the container opening have an annular groove-around the upper edge of the opening so that the flange 12 will be recessed sufliciently to permit the hooks b to be positioned for tightening the closure cap.

In the modification shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the substantially cylindrical spout 10 is provided with a plurality of threads 13 along the entire length of its outer surface. This arrangement is adaptable for use with con-tainer openings having inner and outer threads of different diameters.

If it is desired that no hooks b be formed on the surface of the flange 12, an arrangement as shown in FIG. '4 of the drawings may be provided. To thread the spout 10 outwardly from the container opening, a wire handle a is provided inside of the spout at a distance of approximately 1 centimeter from the flange 12. This wire handle a may also be provided within the opening of the preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the spent 10 is removed by grasping the wire handle a rather than the flange 12 and withdrawing the spout ltl.

With a construction as shown in FIG. 4 where the spout 10 is threaded along its entire length, it may be found in certain instances that the flange 12 is not desired. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings.

Moreover, the hooks for automatically pulling the spout 10 out when the closure cap is removed may be formed in the upper end of the body of the tube either by cutting the tube as shown in FIG. 7 by the hooks g or by carving the hooks on the inner surface of the spout as shown by the letter h in FIG. 8.

It is preferred that the spout according to the invention be formed of a plastic material which permits the spout to be fabricated independently of the container with which it is to be used. As previously mentioned, the spout may be inserted within the opening of any container merely by deforming the spout and permitting it to spring back to its original shape. In addition, the use of a plastic material permits the formation of a membrane over the flange 12 to form a safety seal.

The invention has been shown by way of example only and many modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to any specified form or embodiment except in so far as such limitations are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A spout for attaching to a fluid container, comprising a substantially cylindrical tubing of plastic material so that it may be resiliently deformed for inserting within an opening in a container, an annular flange about one end of said tubing to suspend the tubing within said opening, means on said flange providing a plurality of slots circumferentially arranged thereon at spaced inter vals, said means comprising a plurality of axially offset flange portions, each of said portions forming the boundary for each of said slots, and each of said boundaries being interrupted to provide a gap to permit entrance of a cooperating hook means on a closure portion for said fluid container.

2. A spout for attaching to a fluid container, comprising a tubular spout portion of plastic material so that it may be resiliently deformed for inserting within an opening in a container, an annular flange about one end of said spout to suspend the spout within said opening, means on said flange providing a plurality of slots at substantially diametrically opposite locations, said means comprising a plurality of axially offset flange portions, each of said portions forming the boundary of each of said slots, each of said boundaries being interrupted to provide a gap to permit entrance of a cooperating hook means on a closure portion for said fluid container.

3. A spout for attaching to a fluid container, comprising a substantially tubular spout portion of plastic material so that it may be resiliently deformed for inserting Within an opening in a container, a plurality of threads at one end of said spout portion to engage matching threads at said opening for maintaining said spout in an extended position, an annular flange about the opposite end of said spout portion to suspend the spout within said opening, means on said flange providing a plurality of slots at substantially diametrically opposite locations, said means comprising a plurality of axially offset flange portions, each of said portions forming the boundary of each of said slots, each of said boundaries being interrupted to provide a gap to permit entrance of a cooperating hook means on a closure portion for said fluid container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 521,989 Record June 26, 1894 1,207,210 Pomeroy Dec. 5, 1916 1,281,588 Krofta Oct. 15, 1918 1,492,090 Van Tine Apr. 29, 1924 1,694,304 Armstrong Dec. 4, 1928 1,773,846 Nichols Aug. 26, 1930 1,877,226 Chamberlain Sept. 13, 1932 2,231,412 McCarthy Feb. 11, 1941 2,318,840 Del Camp May 11, 1943 2,772,821 Phillips Dec. 4, 1956 2,773,632 Dobbins Dec. 11, 1956 2,774,523 Rieke Dec. 18, 1956 2,791,357 Nelson May 7, 1957 2,904,232 Gersten Sept. 15, 1959 

3. A SPOUT FOR ATTACHING TO A FLUID CONTAINER, COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY TUBULAR SPOUT PORTION OF PLASTIC MATERIAL SO THAT IT MAY BE RESILIENTLY DEFORMED FOR INSERTING WITHIN AN OPENING IN A CONTAINER, A PLURALITY OF THREADS AT ONE END OF SAID SPOUT PORTION TO ENGAGE MATCHING THREADS AT SAID OPENING FOR MAINTAINING SAID SPOUT IN AN EXTENDED POSITION, AN ANNULAR FLANGE ABOUT THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID SPOUT PORTION TO SUSPEND THE SPOUT WITHIN SAID OPENING, MEANS ON SAID FLANGE PROVIDING A PLURALITY OF SLOTS AT SUBSTANTIALLY DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE LOCATIONS, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY OFFSET FLANGE PORTIONS, EACH OF SAID PORTIONS FORMING THE BOUNDARY OF EACH OF SAID SLOTS, EACH OF SAID BOUNDARIES BEING INTERRUPTED TO PROVIDE A GAP TO PERMIT ENTRANCE OF A COOPERATING HOOK MEANS ON A CLOSURE PORTION FOR SAID FLUID CONTAINER. 